Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 467 posts

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#231

Post by [deleted] »

baq wrote: post #120
dpcan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the hell is wrong with HARD???? Why is everyone so lazy? We are going backwards as a society. I was raised thinking that if it wasn't hard to do, it wasn't worth doing. Every uphill path should not be looked at as an arduous journey, but as an adventure with an amazing reward at the top.

have you been taught to tell hard from bullshit? i've been taught that hard and worthwhile are orthogonal and the amazing prize at the top sometimes is just the fact that you've made it, thanks, now get the f* back down you idiot.

[deleted]

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#232

Post by lucb1e »

mmm_grayons wrote: post #204
lucb1e wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I do fear for the skills of reading a physical book though... Do you need skills for that which are different from reading a computer screen? I only see limitations like no ctrl+f or hyperlinks, so fewer skills needed rather than more.

While there are certainly advantages to digital reading, there's also something to be said for a traditional book. Patience and sustained attention are developed skills, and we have yet to learn what effects a failure to practice them at a young age may have on a developing brain.

Ah, so it's not about reading a book versus some other medium, it's about patience and sustained attention because a book won't have notifications and pop-ups. Alright, then we're on the same page :)

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#233

Post by dpcan »

visarga wrote: post #124
dpcan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the hell is wrong with HARD???? Why is everyone so lazy? We are going backwards as a society. I was raised thinking that if it wasn't hard to do, it wasn't worth doing. Every uphill path should not be looked at as an arduous journey, but as an adventure with an amazing reward at the top.

This comment is lacking in empathy. Not all situations can be solved by the same logic.

I'm sorry, and I agree, it wasn't. It was a frustrated post and I'm being down-voted because of it :/

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#234

Post by dpcan »

wvenable wrote: post #171
dpcan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the hell is wrong with HARD???? Why is everyone so lazy? We are going backwards as a society. I was raised thinking that if it wasn't hard to do, it wasn't worth doing. Every uphill path should not be looked at as an arduous journey, but as an adventure with an amazing reward at the top.

> If it wasn't hard to do, it wasn't worth doing That might be true but if something is hard that doesn't mean it's automatically worth doing. Video conference learning might be both simultaneously hard and completely worthless.

You're right. My point is more that parents need to work really hard to be involved and turn that boring video class into something productive, interesting, and worthwhile.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#235

Post by swayvil »

I'm a general contractor. I remodel houses.

A few years ago I worked with an extremely good painter. Second generation professional painter. Very impressive fellow.

Just by working with him my painting skills went up a couple levels. I'm way better than I was.

There was no formal instruction. No teaching. Just working together. Seeing how he does things. Watching him with a brush.

The same thing just recently happened with a drywall guy I worked near. A superpro. I am MUCH better at mudding drywall now. No instruction occurred. Just by working near him.

This is an ancient and well-known phenomenon. Call it psychic communication. Call it mind-melding. Whatever it is, it's real.

And this virtual education is a joke. PAINFULLY bullshit. I advise all students to blow that time-wasting shit right off.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#236

Post by M277 »

It's much, much worse in third world countries. Egyptian here.

Tech illiteracy is rampant, and many people don't know even the basics of using computers. Not only that, but due to poverty, most don't even have computers and just use mobile phones. For many, this was the first time they got to use a PC/Laptop. A large group just used mobile phones, though. Then you have the internet... it's just not usable for live conferencing, so when they tried it, it was awful.. then the classes were recorded, with low quality and resolution to have small filesizes for private schools. Most public schools basically did away with the whole thing and the kids didn't get any classes at all.

On top of all of that, the educational system (regular education, not the higher education) here is already bad in-class.

In the end, they just decided to cancel the exams, and had the students do a pass/fail research paper about a topic. Although most schools basically just made everyone pass.

Universities were differently handled, though. Also, grade 12 was handled regularly (the students already don't attend school) with regular physical exams since it's an important year.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#237

Post by swayvil »

dj_mc_merlin wrote: post #40

All of these comments make me think HN has never interacted with a 5 year old. Adults are barely able to make it through a day of Zoom meetings without feeling drained, how do you expect an almost toddler to react when forced to sit in front of a screen? The only reasons adults can do it is years and years of learning impulse controls and suppression of bad emotions for everyone's good. A 5 year old does not have the…

God, ZOOM sucks so hard. I can't stand to look at that shit.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#238

Post by flavmartins »

grahamburger wrote: post #182
dj_mc_merlin wrote: post #40

All of these comments make me think HN has never interacted with a 5 year old. Adults are barely able to make it through a day of Zoom meetings without feeling drained, how do you expect an almost toddler to react when forced to sit in front of a screen? The only reasons adults can do it is years and years of learning impulse controls and suppression of bad emotions for everyone's good. A 5 year old does not have the…

It would be weird to expect young children to sit in long Zoom meetings. Are people actually doing that? I have 3 kids, the oldest two are elementary-school age. So far virtually none of their online learning has been video conference based. The younger one would sometimes do Zoom calls with his pre-k class at the end of last year, but it was just a few minutes to see his friends and sing some songs, not really about…

Same here.

Teacher has been recording a daily 7-10 minute lesson video for some of their core subjects.

Then some assignment of online math, science, writing. Then one of the popular reading sites.

The video calls have all been once per week for 30-45 minutes but mostly social for the kids to interact with each other.

Not sure who really expects 5 hours of video.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#239

Post by dpcan »

graham_paul wrote: post #116
dpcan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the hell is wrong with HARD???? Why is everyone so lazy? We are going backwards as a society. I was raised thinking that if it wasn't hard to do, it wasn't worth doing. Every uphill path should not be looked at as an arduous journey, but as an adventure with an amazing reward at the top.

> if it wasn't hard to do, it wasn't worth doing that's a very narrow minded way of looking at the world. Kind words, hugs are very much worth it

The point is that the things that come easy for us are usually those that we value the least, so, after we put in a lot of hard work and time on something, and we had a great accomplishment, we'd say "if it wasn't hard to do, it wasn't worth doing." It's a self pat-on-the-back.

But I totally understand how if you applied this saying to EVERYTHING then it wouldn't make sense, or be seen as "narrow minded" I suppose.

I mean, fishing is pretty damn easy, but every trip I take is worth taking for the peace of mind.

Re: My kid can’t handle a virtual education, and neither can I

#240

Post by dpcan »

danShumway wrote: post #104
dpcan wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My son had to miss pre-school when he was 4. I created a home-based program (week to week) where we learned everything I could find that would normally be in a regular pre-school curriculum. We worked for 3 hours every morning "studying", and he was 4. I made it fun. I made it productive. We took breaks. We had snacks. We had recess. It worked. By the end of the summer, he was reading and more prepared for Kindergart…

Effectively, what you're advocating for is that parents should all homeschool their children. Which... I mean, that's a position some people advocate for. But if every parent was equipped to do that, then their kids wouldn't have been in public school in the first place.

I'm saying that I'm tired of parents saying they "can't" do this distance learning things, or their kids "can't" do it, because they can, and if everyone put in some positive energy and effort, we can make it a success.
Post reply on HN